State Sen. Malcolm Smith, D-Queens, center, faces charges of leading a bribery scandal in an attempt to procure the Republican nomination for New York City mayor.

As Gov. Andrew Cuomo toured western New York Tuesday, pointing to a third straight on-time budget as proof of a state capital that has shed its habitual dysfunction, an erupting downstate scandal showed that the work of cleaning up Albany is far from done.

State Sen. Malcolm Smith became the latest in an embarrassingly long list of state lawmakers to be charged with ethical or criminal misconduct. The Queens Democrat is accused of leading a bribery scandal intended to secure him the Republican nomination for New York City mayor.

The troubling allegations should prompt Cuomo, who has made cleaning up Albany's pay-to-play culture one of his first-administration priorities, to push tirelessly for campaign finance reform and other measures to ensure honest government in Albany.

Indeed, the charges reflect not a corrupt politician but a corrupt system. Arrested with Smith were five downstate party and elected officials - all alleged to have sought personal gain via the bribery scheme. Recall, too, the ethical and/or criminal cases involving more than two dozen other state lawmakers over the past 12 years - in addition to former Gov. Eliot Spitzer's resignation amid a prostitution scandal.

Cuomo, to his credit, has done much to bring credibility back to the much-maligned capital. But he's not done. A vigorous push for his stated goal of publicly financed campaigns, while not a panacea, would do much to transform the power of monied interests in Albany - and restore public confidence.

He described opposition to campaign reform as "universal" in Albany during a meeting with the Editorial Board Tuesday. All the more reason he must use the Smith scandal to propel his case, much as the Newtown shootings created urgency for the state's new gun laws.

Publicly financed campaigns have proven effective in New York City. The Legislature should adopt a similar model. Before the next scandal erupts.